First Things RSS Feed - Thomas F. Madden https://www.firstthings.com/author/thomas-f-madden en-us Copyright 2025 First Things. All Rights Reserved. ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) Mon, 20 Jan 2025 16:54:48 -0500 https://d2201k5v4hmrsv.cloudfront.net/img/favicon-196.png First Things RSS Feed Image https://www.firstthings.com/rss/author/thomas-f-madden 60 Hagia Sophia: Past and Future https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2020/07/hagia-sophia-past-and-future https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2020/07/hagia-sophia-past-and-future Fri, 17 Jul 2020 06:00:00 -0400 On May 29, 1453, after two months of continuous cannon fire, the massive triple walls that had protected Constantinople for nearly a millennium finally crumbled. The victorious Turkish invaders fought their way through the breach, and many rushed down the central avenue to the city’s legendary cathedral, Hagia Sophia. Breaking through the massive, ornate doors, they found hundreds of frightened people inside—the last remnant of a once vast Christian empire. According to legend, as the conquerors were rounding up their captives a lone priest was offering Mass at Hagia Sophia’s high altar. Suddenly, a glowing door appeared in the wall and the priest, still clutching the consecrated Host, walked through it. The opening vanished. It is said that when Hagia Sophia is returned to Christian worship that door will reappear, and the priest will return to finish the Mass.

Continue Reading »

]]> In Defense of King Louis IX https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2020/07/in-defense-of-king-louis-ix https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2020/07/in-defense-of-king-louis-ix Tue, 07 Jul 2020 06:00:00 -0400 The current iconoclastic moment in the U.S. has taken an odd turn here in the city of St. Louis. As protesters across the nation tear down or deface statues of Confederate generals and American founders who owned slaves (among others), the statue that has drawn the most attention in St. Louis is one depicting a medieval man who did not know that America existed. 

Continue Reading »

]]> The Great Saracen https://www.firstthings.com/article/2020/04/the-great-saracen https://www.firstthings.com/article/2020/04/the-great-saracen Wed, 01 Apr 2020 06:00:00 -0400 The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin
by jonathan phillips
yale, 520 pages, $32.50

Continue Reading »

]]> Review of Saint Louis https://www.firstthings.com/article/2010/04/review-of-saint-louis https://www.firstthings.com/article/2010/04/review-of-saint-louis Thu, 01 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0400 Saint Louis
by Jacques Le Goff
translated by Gareth Evan Gollrad
University of Notre Dame,1016 pages, $75

Continue Reading »

]]> Inventing the Crusades https://www.firstthings.com/article/2009/06/inventing-the-crusades https://www.firstthings.com/article/2009/06/inventing-the-crusades Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400 The Crusades, Christianity, and Islam 
by jonathan riley-smith
columbia university press, 136 pages, $24.50

Continue Reading »

]]> Fighting the Good Fight https://www.firstthings.com/article/2006/12/fighting-the-good-fight https://www.firstthings.com/article/2006/12/fighting-the-good-fight Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:00:00 -0500 God’s War: A New History of the Crusades
by christopher tyerman
belknap, 1,040 pages, $35

Continue Reading »

]]> Crusaders and Historians https://www.firstthings.com/article/2005/06/crusaders-and-historians https://www.firstthings.com/article/2005/06/crusaders-and-historians Wed, 01 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0400 The Crusades have been a topic of intense scholarly investigation for the last forty years. Some of the best historians in the world have focused their efforts on learning how the Crusade movement, unique in human history, could have developed and flourished in medieval Europe. In thousands of journal articles and scholarly monographs Christianity’s holy wars have been probed, analyzed, and debated. Much still remains to be done, but the fruits of all of this research cannot be denied. We now know much more than ever before about the Crusades.

Continue Reading »

]]>